Strafford County court bans cell phones

Thursday

Apr 30, 2009 at 3:15 AMApr 30, 2009 at 5:44 AM

By AARON SANBORN

DOVER — A state Supreme Court order allowing cell phones to be on "silent mode" inside courtrooms isn't stopping the Strafford County Sheriff's Department from banning the phones from the county Administrative Building that houses Superior Court.

Citing safety concerns, Capt. Joseph DiGregorio and other county officials spent about a year drafting the new policy to ban cell phones and other electronic devices from the facility. It is scheduled to go into effect June 1.

Under the county's ban, attorneys, law enforcement and the media are exempt, but the public won't be allowed to bring the devices into the building.

DiGregorio said the inspiration for the ban came from an incident at Dover District Court in early 2008 when — during a court proceeding — someone from the public took a picture of an undercover police detective.

"Our big concern with the cell phones are safety issues that arise with people taking photographs with them," DiGregorio said.

During the Dover incident, sheriff deputies were able to confront the person taking the picture and seized the phone but the incident served as a wake-up call, according to DiGregorio, who noted there have been cases across the county of people taking pictures of undercover agents and posting them on websites or T-shirts as a way to tip off the public.

"We would like to think we stayed ahead of the curve. Rather than reacting to a problem, we're preventing one," he said. "We don't want to compromise any police officer in an undercover position or any investigation."

As a way to make the courts current with technology and improve media access, the Supreme Court issued an order on Jan. 11, 2008 that states, "Electronic devices, including laptops, personal digital assistants and cellular telephones are permitted in the courtroom unless the presiding justice finds that use of a particular device will disrupt a court proceeding."

Cell phones must be on "silent mode" while in the courtroom, says the order, which also allows for audio recorders, video cameras and still cameras in the courtroom.

DiGregorio said he is aware of the Supreme Court order, but said Strafford County is in a unique situation because the facility is owned by the county and the state leases court space from the county. And because it's a county building the Sheriff's Department is in charge of building security.

"We respect the court's decision, but it doesn't mean we agree with it," he said. "If it was a 'stand-alone court' we wouldn't have this restriction, but considering there are other entities in the building, we thought this ban was appropriate."

Laura Kiernan, communications director for the New Hampshire Judicial Branch, acknowledged the Sheriff's Department is in charge of building security in Strafford County and said the state cooperates with them.

She added, "The sheriffs control the building and we control the courtrooms."

Those visiting the Registry of Deeds may also possess cell phones and other devices in the building, for the limited purpose of facilitating their participation in matters pertinent to deeds, according to DiGregorio.

DiGregorio said the new policy was well thought out and said Superior Court Judge Kenneth Brown helped draft it.

Brown was unavailable for comment on Wednesday because he was out of town for a judge's conference.

County commissioners and the county's safety committee also supported the new policy, according to DiGregorio.

Strafford County Superior Court Clerk Julie Howard declined to comment about the new policy.

DiGregorio said the new policy will also address concerns about members of the public taking pictures of victims and juries.

"We didn't have any major issues with this before," he said. "These are just concerns we had and we wanted to do something before they became a real issue."

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